Sunday came and we walked down to Big River restaurant to have lunch on the boardwalk prior to going to Epcot. We had amazing service from our waitress who actually apologized profusely for making me wait two seconds while she got me more hot water for my tea. I think I got another cheeseburger - I don't recall. I just remember having hot tea and needing to blow my nose often.
We walked toward Epcot after lunch and exchanged our code for some tickets. It felt good to walk around a bit. We went left today and went into Britain. We could hear the sound of a really awesome bagpipe rock band (no, that wasn't a typo). There was a lot of Beatles memorabilia and tea shop (no Bewley's tea, just Twinning's, whatever that crap is), among other stores. Then we retraced our steps from the day before. Ryan wanted to find Germany to see if he could get any nifty Germany memorabilia, so we went in that direction. Primarily we just walked around and looked at the sights. I was still ridiculously hot, either from a fever or the humidity. At about 4pm we started walking back toward the hotel since we had to be at the awards ceremony at 6pm.
Back at the hotel we started getting ready for the ceremony. I had gotten an awesome dress for the occasion and Ryan had a nice outfit complete with a tie! A little before 6pm we headed down to the ceremony which was starting off with appetizers and cocktails in the Saint James rooms. They had a photographer stationed inside the entry-way - it reminded me of prom. We got our picture taken and then turned around to see Mickey standing down the hallway!
Inside the Saint James rooms were many appetizers. The patio had a bar set up as well. I couldn't taste so I didn't feel like eating anything and, since I was sick, didn't want to have a drink. I just asked for two bottles of water. The bartender looked at me like I was a weirdo. We mingled with my boss, her husband, Melanie, and Kevin. In the meantime, we had a few pictures taken with Minnie Mouse and Goofy. I also went back into the hallway and had my picture taken with Mickey and two of the head VPs of Career Services with a mock award.
A little while later, two trumpet (cornet?) players arrived and played a song announcing the arrival of our Master of Ceremonies, a lovely Englishman whose name escapes me. He had the curly white wig of someone in Parliament or something. Very fancy! He welcomed us to join him in another room and we followed him outside and then back in through another entrance. Standing before us was Snow White's storybook in very large format. The "book" had a cutout in the middle where the doors to the hall were. In we went.
The room was gorgeous! It was decorated with beautiful faux stained glass windows with different Disney iconic items - an apple, a rose, a glass slipper, etc. Then the trumpetists were back and the Englishman made another announcement - dinner was served!
First course was a lobster chowder (or mushroom for Ryan since he hates seafood a bit more than mushrooms). The lobster chowder was a bit spicy and worked wonders for my sinuses. Second course was a salad. It had a lot of big pieces of vegetables so I had to cut everything up. I'm sure it was fine. The main course for me, since I was a vegetarian when I won this trip, was some type of quiche and a vegetable. Ryan managed to get upgraded to steak. He asked if I wanted to switch but I didn't want to waste the steak on my lack of taste. For dessert, they brought us "Cinderella's Slipper" which consisted of a white chocolate slipper with some type of cream and a dark chocolate mousse. Each plate also had a hand stamped (I'm assuming) chocolate Cinderella's Castle. The detail was amazing!
During the meal, they announced quotes about each of the winner's and then announced that winner's name. The winner would then stand up in acknowledgement once their name was called. This was the part that saddened me a bit. Don't get me wrong, the quotes about me were great. It's just that they were all taken from my LinkedIn site. Instead of trying to get new quotes, my supervisor handed in previously written quotes so she wouldn't have to trouble herself. Frustrated me at the time but I guess I'm having the last laugh.
We had more characters join us for the dinner. All of the TAG winners were even given our own wands and pixie dust. And the first person I used my wand on after I was sworn in as a Fairy Godmother - me!
Monday we flew back to California. The flight was much less crowded and Ryan and I were able to spread out. After we got home, I pretty much went to sleep and didn't go outside until Friday night. It wasn't the way I had envisioned this trip but it turned out amazing anyway.
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Florida, part II
At about 2pm on Friday, Ryan and I made our way down to the lobby and checked in at the Top Achiever's Group welcome desk. We were greeted by my regional Career Services Specialist, Connie, and given all of the information we would need for the weekend. We took the booklets back up to our room and then left the hotel.
We walked down the boardwalk, toward Big River restaurant. It was amazing how they made it literally look like you were back in time! We shortly came upon an amazing hotel called Swan and Dolphin Resort. It was composed of two buildings across from each other, separated by a large walkway. The building on our left had swans on each topmost corner of the building. It also had clamshells with huge water fountains inside them. The building on the right had huge fish (apparently dolphins) standing on their heads, also in the topmost four corners. Amazing architecture!
We passed a few more resorts, one of which had a white sand beach, and stopped at our destination: Fantasia Miniature Golf. It had two courses - one, a real miniaturized version of golf complete with sandtraps; the other, a traditional miniature golf course. We chose the latter. The course was beautiful and the 18 holes were divided into five sections from the Fantasia movie. They had amazing statues of many of the characters - which we later discovered were just plastic. They looked so real! Ryan and I wound up tying our game, which was a miracle since I felt like total crap. I was sweating profusely, probably a result of my body trying to rid itself of the cold I'd gotten.
After miniature golf we hiked back to the Dolphin side of the Swan and Dolphin Resort and ate lunch in a little cafe inside. Ryan got a tuna melt that was fancier than anticipated. I got a bowl of chili because I thought it would help clear out my sinuses. It did. Our waitress was awesome and brought us a whole pitcher of water - she said we looked really thirsty.
Between the flight, lack of sleep, gaining a cold, and walking around in the sun, I was pretty beat by this point. We decided to walk back to our hotel and sleep a bit before the opening reception. I slept pretty much until the reception at 8 - Ryan walked around the Boardwalk a bit more.
At 7:45 we went to the lobby and boarded a bus outside. I was feeling super crappy at this point. No one (except the VPs) knew where we were going for dinner. After the bus took us on a bit of a wild goose chase, we finally wound up on a backlot. We got off the bus and were given Mouseketeer ears to wear with our names embroidered on the back. We were then ushered inside Disney's Hollywood Studios and had a picture of our entire group taken in front of "The Great Movie Ride". It looked like Mann's Chinese Theatre in LA! After the pictures of our group were taken, they ushered us inside "The Great Movie Ride". Winding through the turnstiles and aisles set up outside the ride, I wondered what in the world they had in store for us. After a few speeches, I found out.
Stepping into the ride area, we walked down a small set of stairs and were promptly handed a TAG-tini (which was supposedly a pomegranite martini but I couldn't taste so it didn't matter). All of the cars for the ride were off the tracks for the night. In the place where they would have gone, tables were set up in two different areas of the track. The first area was set up kind of like a mobster area, New York, perhaps. The second area was straight out of a western movie. We sat in the western area. Our table was already outfitted with glasses of water and a mason jar of iced tea. We also had western actors visiting our tables to talk to us regularly. The found looked amazing! On our side was a buffet with three potato salad, a traditional salad, chicken, prime rib, and probably some other things I've forgotten. The other area had macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and other "southern" style foods.There was also an open bar, which I didn't partake in except to get some whiskey (blah!) for medicinal purposes.
After dinner was done, we were escorted to a new part of the "ride" - Munchkinland. Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West were there, along with some rather creepy looking animatronic Munchkins. They had dessert set up in this area, along with tea and coffee. I skipped dessert (couldn't taste anyway) and had about three cups of herbal tea. It made my throat feel a bit better.
After about 10 minutes in this area, they moved us to the final area of the ride - a dance floor. I didn't much feel like dancing so I enjoyed watching Mel go to town. That lady can dance! I sipped my tea and enjoyed watching everyone dance around. Finally, it was time to go. We boarded our buses and went back to the hotel. I think we arrived around 11pm or so, which was nice since I had a work session at 8am the next morning! I got more hot tea at the hotel and stood in the hot shower for about half an hour trying to get rid of all my illness. It helped a bit. Finally, about midnight, I went to sleep.
We walked down the boardwalk, toward Big River restaurant. It was amazing how they made it literally look like you were back in time! We shortly came upon an amazing hotel called Swan and Dolphin Resort. It was composed of two buildings across from each other, separated by a large walkway. The building on our left had swans on each topmost corner of the building. It also had clamshells with huge water fountains inside them. The building on the right had huge fish (apparently dolphins) standing on their heads, also in the topmost four corners. Amazing architecture!
We passed a few more resorts, one of which had a white sand beach, and stopped at our destination: Fantasia Miniature Golf. It had two courses - one, a real miniaturized version of golf complete with sandtraps; the other, a traditional miniature golf course. We chose the latter. The course was beautiful and the 18 holes were divided into five sections from the Fantasia movie. They had amazing statues of many of the characters - which we later discovered were just plastic. They looked so real! Ryan and I wound up tying our game, which was a miracle since I felt like total crap. I was sweating profusely, probably a result of my body trying to rid itself of the cold I'd gotten.
After miniature golf we hiked back to the Dolphin side of the Swan and Dolphin Resort and ate lunch in a little cafe inside. Ryan got a tuna melt that was fancier than anticipated. I got a bowl of chili because I thought it would help clear out my sinuses. It did. Our waitress was awesome and brought us a whole pitcher of water - she said we looked really thirsty.
Between the flight, lack of sleep, gaining a cold, and walking around in the sun, I was pretty beat by this point. We decided to walk back to our hotel and sleep a bit before the opening reception. I slept pretty much until the reception at 8 - Ryan walked around the Boardwalk a bit more.
At 7:45 we went to the lobby and boarded a bus outside. I was feeling super crappy at this point. No one (except the VPs) knew where we were going for dinner. After the bus took us on a bit of a wild goose chase, we finally wound up on a backlot. We got off the bus and were given Mouseketeer ears to wear with our names embroidered on the back. We were then ushered inside Disney's Hollywood Studios and had a picture of our entire group taken in front of "The Great Movie Ride". It looked like Mann's Chinese Theatre in LA! After the pictures of our group were taken, they ushered us inside "The Great Movie Ride". Winding through the turnstiles and aisles set up outside the ride, I wondered what in the world they had in store for us. After a few speeches, I found out.
Stepping into the ride area, we walked down a small set of stairs and were promptly handed a TAG-tini (which was supposedly a pomegranite martini but I couldn't taste so it didn't matter). All of the cars for the ride were off the tracks for the night. In the place where they would have gone, tables were set up in two different areas of the track. The first area was set up kind of like a mobster area, New York, perhaps. The second area was straight out of a western movie. We sat in the western area. Our table was already outfitted with glasses of water and a mason jar of iced tea. We also had western actors visiting our tables to talk to us regularly. The found looked amazing! On our side was a buffet with three potato salad, a traditional salad, chicken, prime rib, and probably some other things I've forgotten. The other area had macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and other "southern" style foods.There was also an open bar, which I didn't partake in except to get some whiskey (blah!) for medicinal purposes.
After dinner was done, we were escorted to a new part of the "ride" - Munchkinland. Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West were there, along with some rather creepy looking animatronic Munchkins. They had dessert set up in this area, along with tea and coffee. I skipped dessert (couldn't taste anyway) and had about three cups of herbal tea. It made my throat feel a bit better.
After about 10 minutes in this area, they moved us to the final area of the ride - a dance floor. I didn't much feel like dancing so I enjoyed watching Mel go to town. That lady can dance! I sipped my tea and enjoyed watching everyone dance around. Finally, it was time to go. We boarded our buses and went back to the hotel. I think we arrived around 11pm or so, which was nice since I had a work session at 8am the next morning! I got more hot tea at the hotel and stood in the hot shower for about half an hour trying to get rid of all my illness. It helped a bit. Finally, about midnight, I went to sleep.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Amazing life is quiet
Well, the title of this blog is "Cassie & Ryan's amazing life", so I figured I'd better post something. The truth is, the title was me being sarcastic. We're not off climbing the Himalayas or...I don't know...saving feral cats. We're just living and there hasn't been too much exciting that's happened recently. But for those of you die-hard fans, here's a glimpse into our exciting world.
Friday
I took my car to Connell Chevrolet to see if they could fix it. My Aveo was making a noise. I can't describe it to you so I won't bother. Anyway, they figured out what was wrong (belt tensioner) but didn't have time to fix it that day. Since we didn't want to be car-less over the weekend, and the problem wasn't crucial, we picked the car back up that evening.
Saturday
We went to a friend/coworker's wedding reception. The wedding itself was on Friday at 4:30pm so neither of us was able to make it. The reception itself was wonderful, though. It was for my coworker, Laura, and her partner, Karla. Yes, two ladies. I know some people don't approve of that but, hey, this is my blog. The reception was very emotional. Laura and Karla have been together for many years and were previously "Domestic Partners", the highest status they could claim as lesbians. Seeing the two of them able to marry and gain all of the rights that everyone in our country should be granted was a beautiful thing. I cried more at their reception than I did at my wedding (perhaps because I didn't really have time to think at my wedding). It was beautiful and they deserve each other and the ability to legally be wed.
Then we went to a party at Will & Trish's to celebrate their birthdays. Fun, fun, fun! You never know who will show up. Somebody made some great veggie lasagna - shout out to that person! Oh, and the chocolate chip cookies were awesome too!
Monday
I went to Baja Fresh for lunch and ordered the Diablo Grilled Shrimp Burrito without cheese. They made me a Cabo Shrimp Burrito with cheese. I asked them to remake the thing "Diablo-style" without the cheese. I don't want cheese, people! They weren't too happy about that and I think that they added some spice to it. Oh well - it was good.
Ryan and I went to Panera Bread for dinner. I ordered Garden Vegetable Soup and a Caesar Salad with no cheese. They gave me a Caesar salad with cheese and no dressing. I DON'T WANT CHEESE! I was very irritated, especially since I didn't find out until I was home. I should have called their hotline and told them I was allergic to cheese.
Tuesday
Ryan went to a SIGGRAPH course about visual effects (I think). And I went to a really long and boring and tedious department meeting. Except for the new MS Office Suite, there's nothing I hate more than a tediously boring meeting. I wanted to claw out my eyes.
I found a cool bottle of wine at Target (called VOGA Pinot Grigio, I believe). I like wine and I loved the bottle, so I got it. Once Ryan got home we watched a few episodes of "Flight of the Conchords", which is a really good TV show. If you haven't seen it, you should. It reminds me of Ryan and me (our senses of humor). Good stuff!
Wednesday (today)
I took my car back to the dealership this morning. Ryan dropped me off at work on his motorcycle (I'm so cool showing up at work in my motorcycle helmet). I led a very productive meeting about an event my department is hosting for graduates. Yay!
And the service guy from the dealership called and told me that the problem with my car wasn't the drive belt tensioner or the drive belt but may be a different belt, belt tensioner, or a "bad pulley". Wait...back up the truck...there are PULLEYS in car engines?! Doesn't that seem a bit 17th century for a high-powered piece of machinery? I mean, it's not a Corvette but come on!
Anyway, they loaned me an '07 Impala. Pretty nice car but it's huuuuuuuuuuuge compared to the Aveo. I'm sure I'll figure it out by the time I have to return it.
And that is our last few days. Pretty exciting, no?
Friday
I took my car to Connell Chevrolet to see if they could fix it. My Aveo was making a noise. I can't describe it to you so I won't bother. Anyway, they figured out what was wrong (belt tensioner) but didn't have time to fix it that day. Since we didn't want to be car-less over the weekend, and the problem wasn't crucial, we picked the car back up that evening.
Saturday
We went to a friend/coworker's wedding reception. The wedding itself was on Friday at 4:30pm so neither of us was able to make it. The reception itself was wonderful, though. It was for my coworker, Laura, and her partner, Karla. Yes, two ladies. I know some people don't approve of that but, hey, this is my blog. The reception was very emotional. Laura and Karla have been together for many years and were previously "Domestic Partners", the highest status they could claim as lesbians. Seeing the two of them able to marry and gain all of the rights that everyone in our country should be granted was a beautiful thing. I cried more at their reception than I did at my wedding (perhaps because I didn't really have time to think at my wedding). It was beautiful and they deserve each other and the ability to legally be wed.
Then we went to a party at Will & Trish's to celebrate their birthdays. Fun, fun, fun! You never know who will show up. Somebody made some great veggie lasagna - shout out to that person! Oh, and the chocolate chip cookies were awesome too!
Monday
I went to Baja Fresh for lunch and ordered the Diablo Grilled Shrimp Burrito without cheese. They made me a Cabo Shrimp Burrito with cheese. I asked them to remake the thing "Diablo-style" without the cheese. I don't want cheese, people! They weren't too happy about that and I think that they added some spice to it. Oh well - it was good.
Ryan and I went to Panera Bread for dinner. I ordered Garden Vegetable Soup and a Caesar Salad with no cheese. They gave me a Caesar salad with cheese and no dressing. I DON'T WANT CHEESE! I was very irritated, especially since I didn't find out until I was home. I should have called their hotline and told them I was allergic to cheese.
Tuesday
Ryan went to a SIGGRAPH course about visual effects (I think). And I went to a really long and boring and tedious department meeting. Except for the new MS Office Suite, there's nothing I hate more than a tediously boring meeting. I wanted to claw out my eyes.
I found a cool bottle of wine at Target (called VOGA Pinot Grigio, I believe). I like wine and I loved the bottle, so I got it. Once Ryan got home we watched a few episodes of "Flight of the Conchords", which is a really good TV show. If you haven't seen it, you should. It reminds me of Ryan and me (our senses of humor). Good stuff!
Wednesday (today)
I took my car back to the dealership this morning. Ryan dropped me off at work on his motorcycle (I'm so cool showing up at work in my motorcycle helmet). I led a very productive meeting about an event my department is hosting for graduates. Yay!
And the service guy from the dealership called and told me that the problem with my car wasn't the drive belt tensioner or the drive belt but may be a different belt, belt tensioner, or a "bad pulley". Wait...back up the truck...there are PULLEYS in car engines?! Doesn't that seem a bit 17th century for a high-powered piece of machinery? I mean, it's not a Corvette but come on!
Anyway, they loaned me an '07 Impala. Pretty nice car but it's huuuuuuuuuuuge compared to the Aveo. I'm sure I'll figure it out by the time I have to return it.
And that is our last few days. Pretty exciting, no?
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